The equalizers: Women make up 25% of Narendra Modi Cabinet

NEW DELHI: Women may only account for 11% of all Lok Sabha MPs but they fared better when it came to representation in the Cabinet. Six women were sworn in as senior ministers on Monday, accounting for 25% of the Cabinet. They include Sushma Swaraj, Maneka Gandhi, Najma Heptulla, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Uma Bharti and Smriti Irani.

The number of women dropped sharply when it came to the ministers of state, though. There is only one MoS with independent charge, Nirmala Sitharaman, and no other women ministers.

However, the good news is that the women seem to be getting important, 'serious' ministries.

While the portfolios had not been announced till late Monday night, if reports are to be believed, Swaraj is likely to get external affairs. If that happens, she will be the first woman to be part of the cabinet committee on Security (CCS) since Indira Gandhi.

Irani is tipped for HRD, Gandhi women and child welfare, Badal food processing, and Heptulla minority affairs. Sitharaman is reportedly set to get independent charge of commerce. Bharti, meanwhile, announced on Twitter that she would be the minister for water resources even before any official announcement was made.

One interesting statistic is that both the eldest and youngest members of the Cabinet are women, and both are members of the Rajya Sabha. Heptulla is the eldest at 74, while Irani is almost half her age at 38. Irani was a finalist in the 1998 Femina Miss India, which almost certainly makes her the first beauty pageant contestant to become a Cabinet minister.